Stars, Myths and Rituals in Etruscan Rome (Space and Society)
Language: English
Pages: 181
ISBN: 331907265X
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
This book offers a detailed and fascinating picture of the astonishing astronomical knowledge on which the Roman calendar, traditionally attributed to the king Numa Pompilius (reign 715-673 B.C.), was based. This knowledge, of Mesopotamian origins, related mainly to the planetary movements and to the occurrence of eclipses in the solar system. The author explains the Numan year and cycle and illustrates clearly how astronomical phenomena exerted a powerful influence over both public and private life. A series of concise chapters examine the dates of the Roman festivals, describe the related rites and myths and place the festivals in relation to the planetary movements and astronomical events. Special reference is made to the movements of the moon and Venus, their relation to the language of myth, and the particular significance that Venus was considered to have for female fertility. The book clearly demonstrates the depth of astronomical knowledge reflected in the Roman religious calendar and the designated festive days. It will appeal both to learned connoisseurs and to amateurs with a particular interest in the subject.
Moonwalk with Your Eyes: A Pocket Field Guide
The Infinite Cosmos: Questions from the Frontiers of Cosmology
E.T. Talk: How Will We Communicate with Intelligent Life on Other Worlds? (Astronomers' Universe)
Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution
Etruscan. The names for months in Old Persian are from Brandenstein-Mayrhofer 1964, p. 9; the ending -bahsis in the months of July and August, which are reconstructed from their Elamite form, is thought to stand for “month”. As noted earlier, Etruscan month names from various glossarums are in Mountdorf 1923, p. 108; certified or reconstructed Etruscan month names are in Caffarello 1975, p. 111. Reconstructed forms are indicated by an asterisk. Phonetically corresponding forms are in bold CE, and.
‘‘direct—i.e. anticlockwise— direction’’ refer to an observer in the Earth’s northern hemisphere looking towards the south. 2 Schiaparelli (1997–1998, Vol. I, pp. 41–89) explains that the use of a lunar calendar—such as the Babylonian calendar—in which lunar eclipses can only occur mid-month makes it far easier to understand the Saros cycle. Clearly enough, this explanation also applies to the Numan calendar, in which the underlying lunar foundation is disturbed only by intercalations. (see Chap.
And considering the apparent dimension of the Sun and Moon to be their average size. Though things in the natural world are different—as ancient sky gazers became only too aware at a very early stage—the margin of error generated by this kind of simplification is not nearly significant enough to prevent construction of a theoretical calendar that could be used to predict eclipses. The key calculation for solar eclipses is the moment that the Sun passes through one of the lunar nodes, and the.
1,904.72 = +1.69 1,905 25 May 06 Fortunae Publicae 12/70.5 2,079.72 2 2,081.91 = 22.19 2,082 22 Nov. 06 13/76.5 2,253.03 2 2,259.09 = 26.06 2,259 2 May 07 1.5. Laribus/Bonae Deae 14/82.5 2,426.34 - 2,436.27 = -9.93 2,436 30 Oct. 07 *** 15/88.5 2,599.65 - 2,613.46 = -13.81 2,613 1 May 08 Laribus/Bonae Deae 16/93.5 2,772.96 - 2,761.11 = +11.85 2,761 29 Sep. 08 1.10. Tigillo sororio 17/99.5 2,946.27 - 2,938.29 = +7.98 2,938 8 Mar. 09 7.3. Vediovi 18/105.5 3,119.58 2.
Etrusco-Roman astronomy has been added to the canon of astronomical traditions, despite the fact that until recently nobody had so much as mentioned it; indeed, nobody had even suspected its existence. Etrusco-Roman astronomy has now taken its rightful place alongside astronomical approaches 1 See Ovid, Fasti, 1.27: ‘‘To be sure, Romulus, thou wert better versed in swords than stars […], Scilicet arma magis quam sidera, Romule, noras […]’’; and Fasti, 3.111-2: ‘‘The stars ran their courses free.